Texas Heritage Woodworks Classic Canvas Apron - Tool Review

by Jeffrey Fleisher
New Market, VA

Click on any picture to see a larger version.

Texas Heritage Woodworks
is a relatively new company dedicated to making furniture, aprons
and shop accessories that are meant to last a lifetime. They were established in 2012 and have a
reputation of creating high quality products. I was first introduced to Texas Heritage Woodworks at
last years
Woodworking in America (WIA)
and was impressed with the workmanship and quality
of materials in their
Classic Woodworking Apron
.

What better way to show off the apron than to wear it! If you ignore my mug you can
see that the apron has a traditional look with breast pockets for storing measuring and marking
instruments and large pockets for bigger items you want to keep close at hand. The literature says that
the apron will fit someone from 5'4" to 6'6". I am 6'4" so for me the apron is a few inches past my
waist; approximately to the bottom of my jean pockets. For someone under 6 feet I would imagine that
the apron would be closer between mid-calf to knee length.

The apron is made using double layered 10oz. cotton duck canvas and all seams are double
stitched and reinforced in the corners.

Here you can see the double stitching and the rivets that are
used at each intersection and corner.
The rivets add both a
nice visual touch in addition to the added strength.

For me, the most important feature of an apron is the neck strap. I like a shoulder strap that
goes over each shoulder and crosses in your back and then either clips in the back or along the side of
the apron. This puts all the weight of the apron on your shoulders and not across the back of your neck.
That may not sound like an important feature but when you load up the pockets the weight of the apron
can get pretty heavy. You will like moving the weight from your neck to your shoulders when wearing
this apron for many hours during the day. The shoulder strap is fully adjustable, 1/2" wide leather which is
also riveted to the apron.

The breast pocket features a 3-pocket design that can be used to hold a 6-inch metal ruler plus
different size pencils.

The folks at Texas Heritage were clever in this design concept: as you sharpen a traditional wooden
pencil and it gets smaller and smaller you can use the 3" pocket on the end to hold the pencil stub! No
more fumbling around for your pencil stub in a larger pocket. The other pockets are large
enough for a 6" metal ruler and full-size mechanical pencils.

The large pockets on the front of the apron are large enough to hold other items that you might like to have
close at hand. These pockets are great for the little things that I always use for layout, rough markup, tool setup and just general
woodworking activities. These include a 4" adjustable ruler, chalk, small square and other small items.

I like using an apron in my shop because I like having my marking and measuring tools close at
hand. I can just reach into my apron pocket for my square or ruler and make a quick measurement, which saves a lot of time.

The apron also adds a layer of protection to my clothes and body.

This is a high quality product and you can see the amount of thought and care that went into the design and construction of this apron. If
you are looking for a shop apron, you cannot go wrong with this one from Texas Heritage
Woodworks.

Jeffrey Fleisher has been a woodworker for approximately 20 years and a professional woodworker for the past 6 years. He is the president of his local woodturning club, the Woodturners of the Virginias and past president of the Northern Virginia Carvers. You can see some of the furniture he has made at www.jeffswooddesigns.com. He can be reached by email at
furnmkr@gmail.com
.